Coat shoulder support means



Oct. 26, 1954 A. J. C. HARPER COAT SHOULDER SUPPORT MEANS Filed Sept. 27, 1952 Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to- .coat shoulder support means, more particularly for mens coats, although it could be used also for womens coats.

It is well known in t tailoring art, that coat shoulders tend to get out of shape it poorly .or carelessly pressed, and sometimes are known to sag even in normal use.

An object of the present invention is; to provide shoulder support means, auxiliary to the conventional coat parts, which can :be economically'and readily inserted under the lining of the coat so that it will not be seen and which will support the coat shoulder against distortion or sagging and will .at the same time be imperceptible to the wearer.

The invention maybe applied to new coats or to coats previously made, with equal advantage and with little labor in either case.

'The invention will be understood from the following description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, of an illustrative embodiment thereof, and in which drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of the coat shoulder support of the present invention, :a coat to which the invention may be applied being somewhat diagrammatically shown in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the coat shoulder with the present invention associated therewith and shown diagrammatically in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a sectional View through the-coat back showing the preferred manner of attachment of the support thereto;

Figure 4 is a similar sectional view through the coat front;

Figure 5 shows a modification in which the support is applied only at the front of the coat; and

Figure 6 is a plan view of a piece of tape used for the support at the front as in Fig. 5.

Referring in detail to the illustrative construction shown in the drawings, the numeral N indicates diagrammatically the upper parts. of a mans coat, and the numeral i2 the support means of the present invention, in one form, associated therewith.

In accordance with the present invention, the support means shown in Fig. 1 and also diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 2 comprises a pair of looped substantially non-extensible members is each of which is similar in structure and operation. In this instance the looped members T3 are connected at the top by a connecting member it also of substantially non-extensible material. A cloth tape such as is used by tailors is suitable for the purpose.

Each of the loops I 3 begins at a point l-5, .or what is known in the trade-as the shoulderpoint, at each side of the .collar of the coat, and the 100132111115 down the front of the coat as at I 6, under the .arm hole .as at ll, and returns along the :back :of the coat as. at i8 to the point 15. The member [-4 extends along the back of the collar of the coat from .one point it: to the other, .and the tape :of :this :member is desirably sewn by the stitch it to the conventional coat collar seam.

The loo-p ed member or tape [3 is sewn by the stitch 2% to the usual reinforcing canvas 2| which conventionally occurs at the front of the coat (Fig. 4). In the regions around the lower part .of the arm hole, the tape at l! is sewn by the stitch :22 to the usual arm hole seam occurring there. The tape it at the back of thecoat is .sewn only as at 26-3 and 15, this being to :say that from approximately the point 23 to the return point it the tape 18 which lies along the back of the coat is unsewn to anything else but :merelysewn as at 123 to an inner reinforcing member "2 4 (Fig. 3) such as the inner canvas adjacent the coat front, and at P5 to the collar inner reinforcing member or inner canvas 25.

The :point i5 is desirably adjacent the junction :of the shoulder seam 25 and the collar seam, or shoulder point.

In order to produce a sought-after lift effect, and, :as best seen in Fig. 3, the length of the tape it from the point 23 to the point it is slightly less than the distance across the outer material 2:! of the :coat from adjacent the point 2.3 to adjacent the point i5, so as to permit the material .2! to adapt itself to the curvature of the =-back=.o;f the coat and to he therefore slightly bulged as shown :for this purpose, while at the same time the shoulder is slightly supported by the tape as from .the point it.

Somewhat isimilarly at the front of the coat, the tape 1:6 is slightly shorter than the distance across "the inner canvas reinforcement 2! from the :point L "to the point '33, as shown :in Fig. 4, the canvas thereby being slightly bulged at each place between a pair of individual stitches 28 (Fig. 4) which make up the stitch 20. The coat front outer material 29 is free of tape so as to accommodate itself to the material curvature of the coat front. Here again the shoulder is slightly supported, permitting the material to conform to the curvature.

The usual coat lining 3B of any suitable material both at the front and back of the coat and at the collar of the coat, conceals the tapes, since the tapes are between the coat material and the lining, and this may be true whether the coat is full-lined or skeleton-lined. Thus the support means is not seen.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a tape strip such as 3i may be used for the purpose, and, in this instance, being a modified form of my invention, the tape 3] may be employed only at the front of the coat and may be sewn as at 32 at a point adjacent the junction of the shoulder seam and the collar seam and may extend from there to a point 33 adjacent the lower regions of the arm hole seam, being sewn intermedially as at M to the coat inner canvas reinforcement similarly to the tape it as seen in Figs. 1, 2 and l. In the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the tape does not extend up from the arm hole seam back to the collar along the back of the coat. The tape 3!, however, might be made slightly lengthened and extended partially along the lower regions of the arm hole seam somewhat beyond the point as at 3 In either instance, the tape exerts a slight lifting elfect, employing as a support point the junction of the collar seam and the shoulder seam thus supporting the coat in the region of the shoulders and preventing collapse or distortion of the true shape of the coat in the shoulder region. The support means of my invention is of particular utility to prevent such collapse or distortion when the coat is pressed inexpertly or carelessly, since such pressing otherwise may tend to stretch the reinforcing materials 2i, 2 1 or 25 and thus destroy the normal curvature of these materials as originally constituted and disposed, in the creation of the coat by the tailor. lViy invention prevents such undesirable stretching and distortion of the inner canvas in the direction in which such stretching or distortion might otherwise occur and particularly at the coat front from collar to arm hole.

Furthermore, and particularly in the form of my invention shown in Fig. 1, not only are the desirable results already mentioned accomplished but the further desired effect is produced of preventing or minimizing gaping of the collar and the front lapels of the coat in continued wear and service.

It will be understood that the View shown in Fig. l of the drawings is considerably exaggerated in size and prominence of the support means, for purposes of description and illustration, and that the support means of my present invention becomes an integral, inconspicuous and in fact unseen element of the coat as created by the tailor, the wearer of the coat being only cognizant of the improved result in continued satisfactory appearance of the coat.

While. the invention is particularly adapted for installation in new coats, it can if desired be incorporated in a coat already made with a minimum of labor and expense, the inserting tailor finding it necessary only to raise the lining 30 to insert a tape or tapes as described, the precise point of attachment of the tape being not critical either in original construction or in subsequent insertion, so long as it be substantially as disclosed.

The invention will be readily adaptable by those skilled in the art to such forms or modifications as are covered by the appended claims Without departing therefrom.

The invention having been described, What is here claimed is:

l. Coat shoulder support means comprising a pair of looped substantially non-extensible members, each loop being afilxed to the coat interior at a first point on the shoulder at a side of. the collar of the coat and having portions which extend, respectively, directly diagonally downwardly across the coatfront, along the lower edge of the arm hole, and up the back to said first point, the looped member being affixed to the coat at a second point at the lower edge of the arm hole, and another substantially nonextensible member extending across the back of the collar and joining said looped members at said first points.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the coat has an interior canvas at its front and the memher is slightly shorter than the distance across the coat interior canvas along the member path from the collar to the arm hole at the front of the coat and across the coat material from the arm hole back to the collar at the back of the coat whereby to exert a lift eifect.

3. Coat shoulder support means comprising a substantially non-extensible tape-like member secured interiorly of the coat at a first place adjacent the junction of the shoulder seam and the collar seam and having a portion extending diagonally across the coat directly to the underarm seam of the coat and being secured thereto at a second place, said member being of slightly less length than the distance across the coat material between said places whereby to exert a slightly lift effect on the material adjacent the arm hole and to support the shoulder of the coat.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said coat has an interior canvas at its front and at its back and the first said member is in the form of a tape and is sewn to the coat interior canvas across the front of the coat and extends across the back of the coat between said points but is free of said canvas between said points across the back of the coat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 926,621 Sutherland June 29, 1909 968,142 Garlock Aug. 23, 1910 1,209,311 Levinson Dec. 19, 1916 2,568,304 Shoenbrun Sept. 18, 1951 

